Communities coping with uncertainty in the Middle East

Como las comunidades responden a la incertidumbre en Oriente Medio

The Community Stress Prevention Centre (CSPC), founded by Professor Mooli Lahad, has been functioning for 20 years and specialises in the preparation of individuals, organisations and communities for stressful situations. Initially concerned with the situation on Israel's northern border, the CSPC now works with groups and communities world-wide.

This presentation will investigate the ways in which the different types of community, town and village, Jewish and Arab, are coping with the current uncertainty in Israel and Palestine. We will look at the methods employed with mental health professionals (psychologists, social workers, nurses), the education system and non-professional volunteers. At the heart of the training lies the multi-dimensional coping model developed by Prof. Lahad and its implications for diagnosis and treatment of individuals and groups. This model focuses on six common coping mechanisms, Beliefs, Affect, Social, Imagination, Cognition, Physical, together known as "BASIC Ph". One of the major problems facing people who live in an atmosphere of constant uncertainty is the lack of ability to assume that what helped them in the past will be of use in the future. We will investigate the application of the "BASIC Ph" model in bridging the gaps in the continuities caused by the current situation of uncertainty punctuated with emergency incidents. We will outline the methods we use in preparing communities to cope with the situations in which people are unsure of their economic future, their physical safety or even the question if they can continue living in their current location.

Our emphasis will be on the practical tools we use in our training sessions, what we call "building islands of certainty" in a sea of uncertainty. This is done through the development of simulation exercises, creative thinking and debriefing techniques for emergencies and crisis and in dealing with the aftermath of specific incidents. It will then be possible to extend the implications of the model to other communities, world-wide, and discuss its application in other settings.